At the Library

Skellig

Unhappy about his baby sister's illness and the chaos of moving into a dilapidated old house, Michael retreats to the garage and finds a mysterious stranger who is something like a bird and something like an angel.

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I loved this book about a boy in middle school who finds an angel-like creature in his dilapidated garage. It touches important themes like friendship, hope, family, and awareness of the natural world. A great read for kids (8 and up) and adults.

This middle grade novel is perfect for kids or adults who stop and listen closely to the world around them and are ready to invite magic into their lives. Almond reminds us that we can't know everything and to appreciate a sense of wonder. Highly recommended!

I thought this book was excellent. The writing was beautiful, the storyline intriguing and touching. It has a poetic quality that won't be to everyone's taste...and a slow pace compared to most modern stories. I know it is considered Young Adult or maybe even Children's literature - but as an adult I found it wonderful and put it at the top of my list of recent good reads.

Summary

Michael moves to an old house. His sister came to early and she had a heart defect. There he has an old broken down garage. One day he decides to step into the garage and there it was. He didn’t know who or what he was or even how he came here. Michael sneaks into the garage without his parents knowing. He has gotten a few warnings already about how he shouldn’t go to the garage because they don’t want it to collapse on him. This didn’t stop him. Whenever Michael asks the man if he needed anything he would reply in need for 27 and 53, aspirin and brown ale. Michael was willing to help the man in the garage. Michael meets a girl named Mina in his neighborhood that is a very deep thinker and has a different perspective. Soon Michael and Mina become good friends. Mina decides to tell Michael about her deepest secret. Mina’s dead grandfather owned a house that she was next to get; Mina had a group of owls staying in her grandfather’s house. That’s when Michael decided to tell Mina his untold secret about the man in the garage. He decides to show her to the man. She suggested they moved the man to her grandfather’s house. This was because they thought he would be safer in there than their garage that could collapses any moment. The man revels his name, which was Skellig, and he had wings. They wondered what he was. Was he an angel, beast, bird or man? Michael’s sister had to get surgery. Michael and Mina go back to her grandfather’s house to see Skellig. Later Michael’s mother had a dream. They thought her dream and Skellig came to mind. They thought Skellig was at the hospitals holding the baby and curing her. The baby was well and got named joy.